De-Sovietization of Higher Education in the Era of Global Competition: Analytical Perspectives from University Reform in China and Russia

Reform of the Chinese University is perhaps one of the most successful examples of how the consequences of the Sovietization of higher education in the post-Soviet satellite countries was overcome. Effective government incentives and institutional implementation of globally-competitive strategies not only led to radical changes in academic work and the management of universities in China, but also prompted symmetric international partnerships and an intensive search for academic talent in global networks. Competition for market exposure increased in national and regional higher education and encouraged transformational ambitions among the former "third world" countries. Outsiders and procrastinators in the transformation of higher education, including Russia, are trying to copy the Chinese model of reform, but neglect a number of factors that are strategically important for the rapid changes and for balancing the complex political issues.

In his proposed analytical conversation, the speaker took an excursion into the Soviet "heritage" of higher education, comparing university reform in China (with a parallel review of the effects of Hong Kong and Singapore) and Russia (and with alternative searches in Ukraine) and outlined the prospects for institutional development of higher education.